No stopping Cool Smashers

MANILA, Philippines — Creamline outlasted a feisty Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh of Vietnam, 25-23, 25-23, 25-17, yesterday to secure the first ticket to the finals of the Premier Volleyball League Invitational Conference at the PhilSports Arena.

It was the fourth win for the Cool Smashers, who claimed a spot to the knockout finale where they would have the chance to top the conference for the second straight year.

By making the finals, the proud franchise will be assured of a league record 12th straight podium finish in a spectacular span that earned it six titles, two runner-up trophies and three third-place endings.

But it took the dynastic champion two sets to size up a youth-laden Vietnamese club team before finding its rhythm.

When the Cool Smashers finally found it in the third set, the Vietnamese were left searching for answers that they couldn’t find and dropped their third straight defeat.

“The first two sets were actually our adjustment sets,” said Creamline’s veteran setter Jia de Guzman, who scattered 17 excellent sets while chipping in three points.

“It was our first time going up against them (Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh) and it took us a couple of sets to get going,” she added.

Creamline is expected to go for a semis sweep against a dangerous Kurashiki Ablaze of Japan on Friday in what could be a sneak preview of the finals.

Tots Carlos showed MVP form and dropped 16 points while skipper Alyssa Valdez and Jema Galanza chipped in 11 and 10 hits, respectively.

It was another double-digit performance for Valdez, now fully recovered from an injury, after unleashing 17 and 22 in a pair of epic five-set wins over F2 Logistics and Cignal the past week.

The game also produced gems of performances from Ced Domingo, Michele Gumabao and Pangs Panaga, who combined for 22 points.

Creamline’s third-set breakaway was also helped by Kinh Bac-Bac Ninh captain Nguyen Oanh hurting her knee early in the set.

Oanh, who wound up with eight points, was later carried out on a stretcher by league medics.

Although the Vietnamese still managed to put up a fight in the set and even knotted the count at 15, they would later miss their fallen leader as the Cool Smashers pulled away from there.

In the other game, Kurashiki Ablaze stayed unbeaten in three games with a 25-20, 25-22, 25-20 win over a Kianna Dy-less F2 Logistics.

The Cargo Movers were eliminated from finals contention after sputtering to a 1-3 card.